Where My Ears Met My Blood Pumper 12-19-10

The 15 or so songs that got me through the week.

1. Propagandhi - Supporting Caste
2. Against Me! - Baby, I'm An Anarchist
3. Dead Kennedys - Pull My Strings
4. Bright Eyes - You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.
5. Tony Lucca - Devil Town
6. Lucero - She's Just That Kind Of Girl
7. Tim Kasher - Cold Love
8. School Of Seven Bells - Windstorm
9. The Walkmen - Stranded
10. The Slackers - Hurt So Good
11. Patsy Cline - I Love You So Much It Hurts
12. The Weakerthans - Left & Leaving
13. Camera Obscura - Careless Love
14. The Morning Benders - Excuses
15. Parts & Labor - Nowheres Nigh

Bonus Tracks
16. Robert Duncan - Gunfight Epiphany (Theme from TERRIERS)
17. The Pogues - Fairytale Of New York
18. Tom Waits - Never Let Go
19. Against Me! - Joy
20. The Mountain Goats - This Year

Where My Ears Met My Blood Pumper 12-12-10

The 15 or so songs that got me through the week.

1. Here Comes A Regular - Against Me!
2. A Fond Farewell - Elliot Smith
3. Communicating Doors - The Extra Lens
4. The Modern Leper - Frightened Rabbit
5. Bring It On - The Gaslight Anthem
6. Suicide Dream 2 - How To Dress Well
7. Hopeless Romantic - Helen Stellar
8. Shrapnel - American Steel
9. A Brief History Of Love - The Big Pink
10. Hope In The Air - Laura Marling
11. If The Brakeman Turns My Way - Bright Eyes
12. Love In Vain - Robert Johnson
13. Sweet Little Thing - Lucero
14. Still In Love - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
15. To Old Friends And New - Titus Andronicus

Bonus Tracks
16. Aside - The Weakerthans
17. A Case Of You - Joni Mitchell
18. Fault and Fracture - Converge

Favorite (and Hated) Films of 2010

My 20 Personal Favorites

No particular order here, kids. Why 20? Well, I was tempted to say that this was a horrible year, but then I started typing out films I enjoyed and was pleasantly surprised that the list, in length, started to resemble my 1986 list to Santa. So, in keeping with this initial surprise I figured I would take this opportunity to remind you that last year ain't that bad cinematicalfilmically speaking. 'Twas pretty, pretty, pretty, prrrreeeeeetttttyyyyy good.

I would like to be as clear as INCEPTION in saying that I make no claims that these are the "best" films of the year (whatever that means... because if art should be anything, it should be a competition). These are simply films that either tickled me, made me laugh, made me cry, made that 3 legged hamster hustle it up on that rusty wheel in me noggin or that just simply "did it for me". I'm not going to write blurbs for them... Frankly, because I'd rather be writing other stuff and leave the smart, filmy writing to the pros that do it ever so much better than I.

(In no particular order)

SOUL KITCHEN
SCOTT PILGRIM
GREENBERG
VINCERE
I AM LOVE
MOTHER
SOMEWHERE
THE GHOST WRITER
A PROPHET
CARLOS
DOGTOOTH
SECRET SUNSHINE
I LOVE YOU PHILIP MORRIS
SHUTTER ISLAND
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
ENTER THE VOID
EVERYONE ELSE
THE KILLER INSIDE ME
BLUE VALENTINE
WINTER'S BONE

I also liked these, some of them I liked in spite of them not being terribly good, and they may have infuriated me along the way. (In no particular order).

ANIMAL KINGDOM
RED RIDING TRILOGY
THE AMERICAN
ECCENTRICITIES OF A BLONDE-HAIRED GIRL
RABBIT HOLE
TOY STORY 3
TRUE GRIT
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
MID-AUGUST LUNCH
BLACK SWAN
FISH TANK

Unseen
(Not saying these would make it, but these have a chance as some smart folk with good taste - very few of those - dug them).
RESTREPO
AMER
ALAMAR
NIGHT CATCHES US
BOXING GYM
SWEETGRASS
SAMSON AND DELILAH
HADEWIJICH
AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE
BLUEBEARD
MARWENCOL
LOURDES
MESRINE
FOUR LIONS
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
LET ME IN
THE ILLUSIONIST
VALHALLA RISING
THE OATH
THE KING'S SPEECH (I only place this here because it seems like the kind of perfectly well made film that will kill me with its antisepticness and attempts to be the perfect film that can offend no one and dares for nothing. The kind of film made with a lack of passion that would probably make my hated list for the year.)
HUMAN CENTIPEDE (This would never make the list but Santa Clarita Lanthier tells me I would like this. I'm disturbed he he had this thought.)
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (I'm just putting this here because it is missing from my hated list, which I'm pretty positive it would make.)
WAITING FOR SUPERMAN (This is another one I would probably hate due to the fact that it deceives people into believing a false reality and is already fatally flawed from the inception of the project. I find these kind of films dangerous.)

Least Favorite / Outright Hated (In some kind of meaningful order.)
TINY FURNITURE
I'M STILL HERE
IRON MAN 2
INCEPTION
WALL STREET II
BLACK SWAN
SHUTTER ISLAND
ENTER THE VOID
CATFISH
NEVER LET ME GO

Films I saw and loved that didn't come out last year:
CERTIFIED COPY (May top my next year list)
13 ASSASSINS (First hour was ugh, but that final hour was absolutely guerilla-tastic)
THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER (Most likely will make my favorite of next year list)
TWO GATES OF SLEEP (Bravura direction searching for a little more substance. Similar to my feelings of another film I love AFTERSCHOOL.)
BEDEVILLED (I need another viewing as I was exhausted, but enjoyed it nonetheless even with dozing eyes)
BABNIK (Thanks to the last 5 minutes, this film will probably have to fall on the hated list as well as the favorite list... whenever it comes out. Mind you, everything else was so strong that it will surely make my best of the year list in spite of the ending. Which, I think, says enough. Seek this film out, kids. I'd buy the DVD and so should you.)

Where My Ears Met My Blood Pumper 12-05-10

The 15 or so songs that got me through the week.

Lucero - Sounds of the City
The Mountain Goats - Old College Try
The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You
Explosions In The Sky - Your Hand In Mine
Sleigh Bells - Crown On The Ground
Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
Social Distortion - Machine Gun Blues
Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul (feat. Vic Chesnutt)
Son House - Death Letter
Strike Anywhere - Notes On Pulling The Sky Down
Wye Oak - For Prayer
Against Me! - Wagon Wheel
Matt Skiba - Demons Away
John K. Samson - The Last And
Ben Nichols - The Last Pale Light In The West

Bonus Track
Leftover Crack - Baby-Punchers (feat. Jello Biafra)
Tom Waits - Blue Valentines

I'M NOT THERE...

The film felt like the intellectual equivalent of reading the Enquirer cover to cover and then having Chris Martin roll it up and beat you over the head with it repeatedly with his "globalization" hand whilst Gwyneth pointed her Skeletor-like finger and cackled "You silly Proletariat" from her throne made of mahogany, reupholstered in Louis Vuitton leather.

The Last Great Run of DMZ

I am simply reposting this on a private blog for a friend that wanted to read about what I was talking about. It will be deleted probably shortly as soon as it is read. Not worth commenting on.

Today, DMZ's fantastic arc "Friendly Fire" hits shelves as the forth trade in the series.

From Vertigo:

"Written by Brian Wood; Art by Riccardo Burchielli, Vikto Kalvachev and Nathan Fox; Cover by Wood

Collecting issues #18-22 of the acclaimed series by Brian Wood! Matty Roth reluctantly lands an interview for Liberty News with an enlisted U.S. solider who's found guilty of a massacre within the DMZ. What follows is a look at how the DMZ came to be, from the perspective of a kid who came from the Midwest and walked right into a nightmare."

If you have been reading the book you may remember this as the last great arc before Wood's horribly subpar stand alone issue run. It is funny that in order to truly appreciate a lot of the standalones you have to know the true life story (or person) that they are based on (wait a tick, that isn't funny, that's fucking tragic). It is nothing more than poor writing. Stories ripped straight out of the headlines are generally a great idea for an experienced writer, but if they don't work for those who don't know the true story you have failed miserably at decent storytelling.


Please be good, please be good, please be good!

Either way, this was a great run and definitely worth the read. Let's just be thankful that the standalone run is over and that today, along with the "Friendly Fire" trade, DMZ 29 comes out with the start of the new six part series entitled "Blood in the Game". This run is supposed to deal with reconciliation talks between the Free States and the US government as well as the possible coming of a Che Guevara like figure. Sounds promising and like a possible return to form.

Good luck Mr. Wood. I anxiously await your return to greatness!

The Comment Response That Would Become a Post (Part 2)

Brian Wood's Comment:

"Someone directed me to this entry. For whatever it may be worth, the single issue stories aren't based on any real people or headlines. They are simply just short stories about characters in the DMZ, some recurring, some new.

Not that it should make you like them any more or less. Just wanted to clarify your comments.

brian w"

Dear Mr. Wood,

I am deeply honored and delighted to have you cruise by our little blog and stop to leave a comment. It's not every day that you get someone whose work you respect to comment on something you wrote. Plus, you are probably the fifth comment we have gotten from people that aren't the 2 of us writing this "keep ourselves busy while at our office desk" blog. I realize that my words about those standalones were rather harsh. I wouldn't take back a word of it even with the knowledge that you would read it. My opinion still stands, I don't like the bulk of the standalones. But hey, they can't all be home runs, eh? Just ask Orson Welles. Besides, I have said far harsher things to people I love about their work (albeit when asked). Shit, my mom has said harsher things about my writing and she's my fucking mom. She is supposed to say things along the lines of, "That's great schnookums (sp?)" to everything I write. However, all the criticism I have given and received was meant to be constructive. This being said, with the knowledge that you would read the post, I may have not written it in such a smug, dickish way (OK, I'm lying, I probably would have).

Firstly, I would like to state that in no way was I accusing you of plagiarism. As I have mentioned ample times, I am a huge fan of Demo and DMZ. So with that in mind I shall proceed as to the basis of what I said in this post.


Banksy

More Bansky!

Now, to clarify what I mean when I said that some of those standalones appear to be ripped from the headlines. I was primarily referring to 2 issues. The first one being DMZ #23, "Decade Later". The first time I read this I neither loved it nor hated it. It just killed 10 minutes of my day. However, upon jumping on this Banksy love-fest-bandwagon really late in the game (it was the work he did on the Apartheid wall separating the Israelis from the Palestinians that made me have a true and deep respect for him) I remembered the aforementioned issue and re-visited it. Upon my re-reading of the issue I ended up really appreciating it. What I appreciated was that you seemed to be giving a life to an artist I deeply respect that nobody seems to know much of anything about. I guess that the character Decade Later may not actually be based on Banksy, it just seemed a little more than a bit Banksy-like (in a good way). Things such as the nature and content of the artwork (albeit there was no use of stencils in the issue) as well as his heavy altercations with the law led me to that conclusion (wouldn't the good ol' constables over at Scotland Yard love to get their hands on him). There are things in the issue that of course don't liken Banksy (at least to my knowledge), but in the end there was an over-arching feeling that Decade Later was Banksyesque. There is always the strong chance that I was just projecting my "want" as a reader onto the character of Decade Later. However, as mentioned, as a character there are some strong similarities between him and Bansky, albeit possibly not enough to say that he was entirely based on him, but merely a good chance inspired by him (with much artistic license taken). Then again there are other artists such as Blek Le Rat that could have served as an influence as well. Either way, there is nothing wrong with inspiration. My gripe was that the issue didn't work for me until I jumped onto the "Banksy is King" bandwagon.


Photo by Kevin Carter, 1993, Sudan. RIP

The second issue I was referring to was DMZ #26, Kelly. This issue seems to be inspired by Kevin Carter's experience in Sudan in 1993. This I picked up on while reading the issue the first time around as I was already vaguely aware of his story (FYI, this is by far my favorite of the standalones). Based on your citing "*The Bang Bang Club - Snapshots From a Hidden War: by Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva" as a major help in research for DMZ, I figured you were well aware of Carter's story (note: you all should check out the Oscar Nominated short documentary "The Death of Kevin Carter"" ... I haven't seen it yet, but Rob says it's great).

As the issue goes:

- Kelly Conolly is a fearless war journalist (Carter and his crew of photographers were adrenaline junkies often jumping in harm's way to get a shot).
- She takes a picture of a suffering kid in a warzone (the above picture that I shall be referring to is the one Carter took in Civil War stricken Sudan).
- She didn't stop and pick up the kid and "caught a lot of shit" for not helping the kid (the NY Times, where the photo was published, got many letters asking the fate of the child and Carter got a helluva lot of flack for not helping the kid) even though the envoy/troops she was with picked him up (I have heard 2 versions, either part of Carter's envoy went back for the kid or the kid's family was just a hop, skip and a jump away getting food).
- She then won an award for the photo (Carter won the Pulitzer for it in '94).
- She then entered a deep depression and went from being fearless to reckless and eventually, depending on interpretation, got herself killed through being consciously reckless (Carter killed himself in part due to the pain caused to him from the flack he got from the photo as well as all the pain and suffering he witnessed, lack of money, and the loss of a dear friend and colleague).

Wow, that is an eye bender. I'm getting vertigo (ha!) just looking at it... and I wrote it.

What I liked about this issue is that it humanizes a demonized journalist and painted a strong case for the likes of someone like Kevin Carter. It shows how witnessing all the evil in the world does take a tremendous toll on a person. It shows that when forced to document something and not directly help the subject it haunts you. It also shows that it isn't a journalist's job to help every person they document. If that was the case every warzone correspondent would have more 3rd World children than Angelina Jolie, Madonna and all of the Hollywood princesses combined (I actually do respect some of them for adopting these kids mind you). A journalist's job is to show the world what is happening outside one's peripheral vision. That's it. I felt the issue embodied all those elements quite well. Ultimately, I found this issue to be a moving send off to Carter.

All in all, stories can be like songs of the Blues. The same basic elements go into one, but it is the artistic interpretation that makes them the performers' own. Look at how Skip James would play a song that Robert Johnson would play that Son House would play that Muddy Waters would play that John Lee Hooker would play. At its core it is the same / similar lyrics and the core of the song remains the same, but the interpretation of the artist makes it their own and gives it a fresh breath of life. You don't need to hear all the versions to appreciate one of them because they all stand on their own two feet. These reinterpretations are enriching and have deeply added to our culture. That is the way that I see getting ideas from real life. Besides, every story has been told, it's just a matter of how we retell it.

Well, that's all for now. I hope this all makes sense. I as well would like to take this opportunity to wish you the best of luck on the second volume of Demo. I am anxiously awaiting it. I as well would like to state again that I really like the start of the new arc. I think it is promising and am eagerly anticipating the next issue. I look forward to reading your work in the future... even though I may not like all of it. Good luck.

Best regards,
--CriterionWhore